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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: prune · clip · wax · march · mine · pound · pop · rest

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. clip — for paper
  3. pop — music
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. wax — to grow
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. prune — to trim
  9. rest — what's left
  10. rest — what's left
  11. march — the month
  12. prune — to trim
  13. clip — a video
  14. march — music
  15. pop — to visit
  16. pop — soda
  17. pound — a weight
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. clip — to cut
  23. mine — for digging
  24. march — the month

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com